“Microsoft’s Surface RT has a better display than does the iPad — that’s the case being made by one of the tech gurus behind the new tablet,” Lance Whitney reports for CNET. “At a Reddit IamA held yesterday, Microsoft engineers who worked on Surface answered questions about the tablet. One question asked how users might consider Surface versus the iPad in light of their different screen resolutions. Surface for Windows RT offers a resolution of 1366×768 while the current iPad delivers a resolution of 2048×1536.”

Whitney reports, “Microsoft’s Steven Bathiche quickly chimed in to address that issue… ‘The amount of light in a room and the reflections off the screen have a huge effect on the contrast of the display,’ Bathiche said. ‘In fact, a small amount of reflection can greatly reduce contrast and thus the perceived resolution of the display. With the ClearType Display technology we took a 3 pronged approach to maximize that perceived resolution and optimize for battery life, weight, and thickness.'”

MacDailyNews Take: Cough*bullshit*cough.

Whitney reports, “However, another person challenged Bathiche, asking why Microsoft opted for a higher resolution in the Windows Pro version of Surface. Here, Bathiche seemed to struggle for an answer, saying that perhaps Microsoft wasn’t as concerned about preserving battery power.”

The Surface’s low-resolution screen puts it about on par with the iPad 1…until you realize that unlike the iPad 1, the Surface doesn’t have any cellular data connectivity at all. So here we are with Microsoft’s flagship tablet for 2013, and it doesn’t even compare favorably to Apple’s 2010 first-gen iPad. Sad. Who would buy one of these when you could get a much better iPad 1 on Craigslist for half the price?

Microsoft copies, but has to do it backwards.
All a Surface is is a “Microsofted” netbook.
A netbook has the electronics under the keyboard, and that’s covered by the thin screen. (that stays up, supported by the keyboard)
Surface has the electronics behind the screen, and since they can not be bothered to optimize Office for a touch only device, it HAS to have physical Keyboard. (and since the screen is now so heavy, it has to have a Kickstand to stay up)
A Microsoft screwed-up Netbook! And we know how well Netbooks are doing…

As for the Surface’s ridiculous kickstand…I can’t even remember ever using my iPad on a table. I use my iPad on my lap, on the couch, in the car, laying in bed…not seated at a table. The kickstand is going to be completely useless for 98% of the places people want to use tablets.

I can see the value of this in many business and home consumer scenarios. To suggest that a kickstand is ridiculous seems a bit naive to me considering the accessories being produced so that iPad users can prop up their screen as well as the hybrid laptops being created to accomodate these scenarios as well.

No one is buying those hybrid laptop/ultrabook thingies. Sales have been described as “disappointing” in every article I’ve read about them. And the accessories that exist to prop up iPads aren’t exactly flying off the shelves either. Think about it…have you ever seen anyone actually using one?

1. I have a Smart Cover and use it all the time as a stand. I use in in school to take notes, cafe to show my friends stuff, even to do my flight plans. I hate when I have it flat on a table. I always use the Smart Cover to give me an angle.

Look at the Microsoft Surface as a laptop in tablet clothing then its design makes sense. The only orientation you ever see in pictures is landscape. When in use it’s on a desk. What is Microsoft calling it “the new PC era”?

The surface reminds me hilariously of a sketch on Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In in the 60’s. A hippie chick explained her new invention that conquered the drawback of contact lenses (new and very expensive at the time), namely how easy it was to lose them. Her solution was to put them in a teeny, weeny glasses frame and wear them like glasses!

Now, that seems to defeat the purpose of contacts, right?

So let’s replace our laptops with tablets, but make them laptops at the same time? With smaller screens, less horsepower and less storage capacity?

Only these are tablets not laptops. To your point, there are several devices coming out from other device manufacturers that are trying to be both. I also don’t think this is a bad thing. These experiments will eventually lead to new innovations and thats a good thing for everyone.